Bluebonnets in the Hill Country
by Entwife Incognito
Summary: Mistletoe series, #5 (final). Springtime is an unstoppable force in the natural world. Jane & Lisbon take The Mistletoe on a trip. Lisbon finds her place. One-shot. AU, maybe OOC. Part of the Mistletoe series, but can stand on its own. Warning! Adult sexual situations. If you don't like that stuff, don't read this! Disclaimer: I own nothing about The Mentalist.


_**A/N This is the final installment of the Mistletoe series. Thanks to everyone who has read the series and waited patiently for installments, especially this last one. It was hard to be so long in posting it, too, but I wanted to delay until at least most of us could see harbingers of spring before I painted it in such a buoyant and irrepressible fashion. I hope the conclusion satisfies your anticipation. Consider it marrow for today, this Fat Tuesday!**_

_**Hat tip to Anonymous on Tumblr for the idea of Jane's little mishap on the water, needing Lisbon's help.**_

_**Thanks to all my guest reviewers, many so lavish in their praises, and apologies to any of you whom I may have disappointed with the limitations of my imagination and skill.**_

_**.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.**_

"How about we get away this weekend?"

Lisbon's eyes widened and sparkled with interest. "Where?"

"Not far. I know someone who has some land in the hill country west of town. Hundreds of acres, almost a thousand, I think, big lake, nice house. They'll be out of town for awhile and I've got the run of the place if I want it."

She looked at Jane skeptically. "They own a whole lake?"

"You're so suspicious. It's not a huge lake, ranchers would call it a large stock tank, but it's big enough for The Mistletoe, about 40-45 acres, I think. Stocked with fish. They dammed up one end of a little valley on their land a hundred-odd years ago." She still didn't look convinced. "There's no catch. It's not a shady deal in any way. What do you say?"

Lisbon always smiled when she thought of The Mistletoe, the boat Jane had given her for Christmas. "It sounds nice. Who are these people? It's not like you have crowds of friends . . . or do you? You never talk about them . . . " When she saw how he looked at her, she said, "Sorry." She really didn't know for sure, but of course he spent enough time outside of work and outside of her company to have engendered some friendships.

"They have the diner I like to go to for breakfast. I guess it's a good living, been in the family for generations. There's four of them around town and they just opened one in Georgetown, up the interstate. Anyway, the house is ours for the weekend if we want it." He could see she still doubted. "The bluebonnets are in bloom. Their pastures will be covered with them."

"Pastures? Are there cows? Aren't they dangerous?" She'd been trying to figure out 'stock tank.' Must have something to do with pastures and cows, livestock.

Jane laughed at his slightly nature-phobic friend. "No, cows aren't dangerous, city girl, if you know how to act around them. But they don't ranch, anyway. Not any more. Just a homestead. Only the daughter and her family, right now."

"Well . . . the weather is supposed to be nice and warm . . . "

Gotcha! "And we can haul The Mistletoe and do some fishing on their lake. Fresh fried fish for dinner, Lisbon!" This last he said in a sing-song, enticing voice.

"Really? We can take my boat?"

"That's why she has her own little trailer."

Lisbon smiled happily. She'd never piloted the small motorboat Jane had given her for Christmas anywhere but Lake Travis, near where Jane hooked up his Airstream outside of Austin. "Okay! But I don't know how to fish."

"Nothing to it, Lisbon. We'll take enough groceries anyway. Just in case we don't catch anything."

"Hmmmm. I'm glad. It doesn't bode well that you're not bragging what an audacious fisherman you are."

Her wink told him that she was teasing. "Friday night or Saturday morning?" he asked.

"Friday. Let's make it last as long as possible!"

"That's the spirit, Lisbon!"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Good thing the days were getting longer. Leaving work in mid-afternoon gave them plenty of time to get to Lake Travis where The Mistletoe was moored and get on the way before dark. Jane had backed the boat trailer into the water and demonstrated how to float The Mistletoe into place using the trolling motor, attach the winch and position it on the trailer for tie-down. Good thing they were two. That made it an easy process and they had the twenty-foot motorboat fastened in no time, with enough daylight to be on the road before sunset.

Lisbon scooted across the bench seat of Jane's truck to buckle into the middle of the bench seat and fasten herself to his side, her shoulder nestled into the crook of his as they bounced their way uphill from the marina to the main road . "Don't we look like the country couple! Riding in the pick up, a man in love, with his honey at his side?"

Jane squeezed her. "You're definitely my honey!"

The drive into the hills at sunset was breathtaking. The low sun cast reds running from coral to blood on the tops and violet to indigo and black in the valleys, deepening as twilight came on. Stars began to peek from the night canopy, multiplying as dark grew dense and they traveled further and further from the city lights. A pale crescent moon was just coming up when Jane turned onto a long drive that wound to a large Victorian two-story house with a veranda wrapping three sides, sitting against its starry backdrop on the highest hill around, lit only by the slivered moon.

Dark blotted the details, but Lisbon could tell that the house must be beautiful. "Oh! I think there's gingerbread trim all over it! I love it! This will be so much fun!"

Jane loved to see her bounce with joy! He took her arm, led her up the steps and unlocked the door to let them inside. Toggling a few switches, the hall lit up, and then the porch.

Lisbon stepped back onto the veranda. "Oh, Jane! There's a porch swing!" On the other side of the door were a small table and two chairs. A bushy calico cat wandered up and meowed, rubbing against her legs. "Well, hi there!"

Jane opened the door to let the cat in. "This will be Muzzy. Hi, kitty." He bent down to pick her up and Lisbon came in, watching him pet the cat in his arms, the two of them rubbing faces. He handed the cat to Lisbon and she was delighted at the animal's purring consent to rest against her chest.

They walked through to the giant, homey kitchen with a big table and six chairs in the center of the room. Muzzy's food bowl was on the countertop next to a large plastic tub of cat food. There was a larger bowl and a water bowl by the back door.

"Is there a dog, too?"

"Yes. Jimbo should be in his pen out back. He's probably lonely. Let's go get him and feed him so we have that out of the way."

"Is he allowed in?"

"Of course! The pen is just to keep him safe when the family's away."

"Is he big? Is he nice?"

Jane turned to see she was a bit apprehensive. "Are you afraid of dogs?"

"No. Not really afraid. Just careful."

"Well, I'm sure Jimbo will take care of all the introductions, so just relax and enjoy him and everything will be fine." He hugged her and kissed her cheek before opening the back door. That triggered loud barking. "See? He's already saying, 'Hi.'"

Jimbo was overjoyed to be released. A large, vaguely shaggy, big-boned reddish mutt of generations of mixed parentage, he scampered around the two of them, barking and jumping and wagging his tail. He sniffed them each in the butt and ran to the back door. "I guess we pass muster," Jane said. Lisbon breathed a small sigh of relief and smiled.

After the animals were fed, Jane left Lisbon to make friends with the dog and brought in their things. "Bedrooms are upstairs. You're going to like the bathroom! Come and see."

Lisbon was on the floor petting and patting a very happy Jimbo who got up with her and followed them up the stairs. "Here, Jane. I'll take my bag." He handed it to her.

"Pick which room you want." He pointed to two, and she looked in each of them.

Oh, her stomach! Such a sad, sinking feeling. She felt suddenly lonely and she didn't want to be separated from Jane in a strange house. Looking at him silently, her eyes told the tale.

"Maybe you'd like to sleep together, tonight?" He smiled softly at his fluttering little bird as she nodded her head. "Good! I'm going to love snuggling all night with you." That's when he saw the indecision. "Just snuggle, okay? I don't want you taking advantage of my hospitality. Just because I let you in my bed doesn't mean you can take liberties."

He winked and she ran to him before he could set down his bag, attempting to engulf him with a fierce hug. "You're so sweet, making it about you. I see what you did. You love me."

"That, I do, little bird. I wouldn't do anything to frighten you away." Jane had always seen her fear that he would abandon her and run away to be the strongest sign of her love for him. He would do everything possible to let her see him cherish that love by letting her take the time to feel safe, and sure of him. It would take that safety for her to commit to him as he was to her.

"I'm not frightened and I'm not going anywhere. I'm with you."

Jane dropped the bag he still had dangling from his hand to kiss her, fiery in the expression of his feeling, to trail big smacking kisses along her cheek and jaw that made her laugh before he stopped. Looking into eyes the color of a sea storm, Lisbon slowly took his lips for something warmer and more lingering.

When Jane was gasping for breath and broke the kiss, he pulled her in tight to say in her ear, "Don't you dare kiss me like that when we're in bed tonight. Not unless you want me between your legs." He moved his hips against her to show what her kiss had done to him, then recaptured her lips and pressed his tongue on them, but she didn't open to him.

Instead she pulled slightly away and held his head with both hands, fingering his curls and his scalp. "If you could see what you do to me, you'd know I wouldn't stop you."

"Show me!"

"I know it will be very soon." She kissed him lightly and said, "Let's put our things up and get ready for bed."

Looking into her deep green eyes, her wide pupils black as ink, he whispered, "We have to get up very early to fish."

"Okay. Wake me when it's time." Her voice was low as she returned his gaze. Then she bent to pick up her bag and went in the room.

"Oh my god! Look at this tub!" It was huge and deep. "I could swim in it!" She peeked out the door to Jane's smiling face. "Or the two of us could play in it!" She blushed furiously, knowing she didn't quite mean it, but who would not get ideas from that tub!

"Don't tease me, Teresa."

She noted his use of her first name and knew he wanted to be invited into the tub with her tonight. It hurt her to refuse his unspoken request. What was she waiting for? She knew it was because she felt herself responding to impulse, the domesticity of the setting and Jane's nearness, his eagerness for her. She was not thinking things through and she didn't want to risk drawing him in only to pull back from him again. He didn't deserve that. Tears rolled down her face. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you crying, little bird?"

"I don't want to hurt you."

"How would you hurt me?"

"Everything's so wonderful and cozy. And romantic. I want to be just as close with you as you want to be with me. But it would make me pull away again."

"Oooooh. And that's when you'd hurt me."

"Yes. But I hurt you either way. By saying yes or by saying no."

"No. No, you don't hurt me by saying no. Not when you stay close to me and say no. You make me long for you. Dream of you. But I think you're making the right decision."

She sniffed, wiping her cheeks with her hands. "Yeah?"

"Yes. It would hurt me terribly if we got that close and you pulled away. We'll wait. Okay? I know it won't be long."

"It won't be." A little deflated, Lisbon asked, "Is there a shower somewhere?" Now the big tub would just make her feel lonely and mean. The should enjoy it together. Somehow, using it for herself went beyond modesty and into selfishness.

Jane directed her to the shower downstairs, where she washed and dressed for bed. Lisbon told herself to buck up! Committing to Jane in a physical way was such a big step, one that would hurt him terribly if she took it too soon and then pulled away. Yet the closer and more sure she felt about consummating their physical relationship, the more labile she became. She was turning into a regular cry-baby! What he must think of her! She was a mess!

Jane was already in the queen bed, covers turned down to the fresh clean sheets, looking sweet in his tee shirt and pajama bottoms. He held out his arms to her and squeezed her tight, helping her smooth the nightgown down her legs. "I love you, baby."

His tenderness drew the tension from deep within her and she sobbed openly as he held her. "I l-love you, too, Patrick. I love you more than anything."

His heart went out to her as he saw his words affect her the way he intended. So much hurt inside his little bird. She wanted him, badly. But she had enough integrity to wait until she knew she would not hurt him, knowing how serious he was about her. How could he not love that? It summed up _everything_ he loved about her.

When he let her go, she lay on her side facing him, looking at the promise ring he had put on her finger on Valentine's Day, a promise never to run away from her again. She touched the three small emeralds, glistening with their dark light. "I want to make you a promise on my ring."

Jane stroked her hair quietly, waiting to hear her promise.

When she looked at him, she was calm. "I promise that when I love you with my body, it will be because I know I will never pull away from you again, no matter how scared I get. If I get scared about being close to you, I will run to you and tell you, not away."

Brushing her cheek, his fingers moved to the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. "I love that promise. Thank you. We both promise on your ring, not to run away."

Lisbon turned to let Jane spoon her back. "I'm always crying and weak these days, soft. I used to be strong."

"You did used to be strong. Strong and tough. You're still the strongest, bravest, truest person I know. But you're strong enough to show me your weak places, and soft enough to let me in now. Sometimes we cry from our soft places. You know I have."

"I love when you show me your soft places."

"I love the same thing, when you do."

He cupped his hand full of her soft, round breast, lightly squeezing it for his own comfort. She sighed and placed her hand over his and fell asleep.

The sun stabbed their faces in the early morning, shining from low in the valley over the lake into their window. Jane got up first, his morning stiffie creating quite a tent in his pajama bottoms. Lisbon watched it in profile and Jane caught her at it.

"Bad boy says good morning."

"Either that's a really big bad boy or he's really standing at attention."

"Someday you'll meet and you can find out. Now, get a move on. Time to get The Mistletoe on the water!"

Jane chose what they needed from the fishing gear at a corner of the veranda and laid it in the boat. When Lisbon came out the front door and down the steps, she stopped dead. The sun was a bright yellow ball buttering the sky, hovering low over a small body of water reflecting a shade of sapphire blue from the still shadowed sky. But in between the house and the lake, a dirt-track road wound through a wide, waving sea of cerulean blue, spikes of flowers glistening from their depths to their white-tipped crowns as they soaked up the heat of the morning sun. For a moment she couldn't breathe and she couldn't speak.

Jane came up behind her. "Bluebonnets."

"Bluebonnets," she repeated softly and looked at the house. It was painted a softer shade of the same hue, with white trim all over the edges. It was beautiful! Staring up at it almost made her dizzy.

The ride to the lake was surreal, the waving bluebonnets constantly shifting shades of lit cerulean as far as the eye could see, mocking the sapphire lake below. Close up, she saw that some flowers tended a little more toward purple and some toward azure or powder, but all tipped in white. The effect was a scintillating pointillist painting come to life, different close up than from afar. In such density, the bluebonnets filled the air with a mild, exotic perfume.

Lisbon let the experience fill her, soak through her and linger, shimmering inside like a pure bubbling spring. She felt her place in the wide expanse of the natural world as keenly as if she had no body at all. Nothing pressed on her to get in or out. Everything was right. Patrick was right. She wanted take up her place with him and commit the one thing she held for herself, held from him. And she knew how and where she wanted it to happen.

The boat ramp to the lake was in good condition and they got The Mistletoe afloat. Lisbon brought her to the dock while Jane got in the truck and pulled the trailer from the water. He hopped in the boat and directed her to some likely fishing spots. While the morning had started cool, by about ten o'clock the day was bright and warm and they had three good-sized fish. Lisbon was briefly grumpy that Jane had caught every single one. Nibbles didn't count!

"We'll have these for supper tonight," Jane said as he cleaned them at a metal table in the back yard made just for that purpose.

When he brought the filleted fish to place in the refrigerator, Jane saw that Lisbon had packed a picnic lunch, complete with a bottle of white wine and two quilts for the ground. "Let's have a picnic in the bluebonnets."

"Perfect! Two quilts?"

"It's cushier."

"Okay," he shrugged.

"I'll be right back down." Upstairs, she slathered herself with sunblock and changed into a simple yellow sundress and sandals.

Jane's mouth dropped when he saw her, and he rushed to take her in his arms, whispering, "You look so beautiful!"

Splitting the things between them, they walked down the dirt road until Lisbon said, "Let's turn off here." They waded through the knee-high sea, deep into the bluebonnets until she found the spot she liked and they spread the double layer of quilts.

Jane watched her set out lunch. It was light fare, but plenty of it. Swiss cheese sandwiches, pried open to receive ripe tomato that she sliced into them. Crispy kettle potato chips. They finished simply with peaches that she had cut into pieces and drizzled with honey, drinking the last of the chilled wine.

Picking up the remains, Lisbon put them in the thermal bag she had brought them in, setting it out of the way. Then she lay on her back, head pillowed in her hands, to watch the yellow sun and drown in the sea of waving bluebonnets. Quietly, Jane watched her for a while and then settled beside her, feathering his fingers along the butter softness of her exposed inner arms. So sensitive there, she had to part her lips to breathe and her legs moved restlessly.

Her eyes pleading for more, the kisses she gave when she turned to him were different, hotter, hungrier, her hands roving his sides and chest. He was so far under her spell, she had his shirt open before he thought to ask her what she was doing.

"I don't want to be apart from you anymore." She pushed his shirt off his shoulders. The gold chain she had given him for Valentine's Day, strung through his wedding ring, glinted warmly in the sun. "And I want to kiss your beautiful skin now."

He hovered over her and looked into her eyes, clear and calm. After their emotional conversation last night, and her promise, to ask her now if she was sure would have been insulting.

Lisbon paused while he looked at her, enthralled with the field of waving blue flowers behind him and the blue sky above. Both seemed to have places in the color of his eyes, the leaves of the bluebonnets picking up droplets of green blended like a watercolor painting. Then, running her hands inside his open shirt, she began to kiss him again, tugging at his back to bring him closer.

He held her loosely, allowing her to ravage him with her lips and tongue, savoring the nips from her little white teeth. When she bit his nipples he felt dizzy, blood suddenly draining from his head to fill his already erect flesh as it tried to fight its way out of his pants. He pushed up the hem of her dress to see simple white cotton panties. Oh god! He wanted in them in the worst way! When he slipped his hands in back to cup the plush mounds and pull her against his body, she hitched a leg over his hip to feel what he pressed into her.

His hands were hot where he touched her. When he filled them with her bottom, he kindled her belly and she felt herself swell and soften for him, a pool of moisture to make his path easy. Moaning low, she laid back and her legs fall open, everything opening to him. Long fingers on wet cotton, he pressed one into the soaking cleft, her flesh pillowy and yielding. Rolling in the wet as she pushed against his finger, he drew it away and savored it along his tongue while she watched his eyes dilate.

A blossom of wet heat formed over his jugular as she used everything soft in her mouth to linger over his pulse, kissing, almost consuming his flesh as she moved to his ear until he was mindless except to the feel of her mouth. Then he heard, "Why aren't we naked? I want to be naked!"

Her request shot through him, taking his breath in a huff as his whole body quivered like an arrow in her bow. "Sit up!" he groaned.

They both sat up and he pulled the sundress over her head, seeing her breasts already bare. "Oh, god! Teresa!" He pulled her onto his lap and she straddled him, leaning back into the cradle of his hands as he kissed her gently at first, licking and tasting before tenderly assaulting her breasts with an almost feral hunger that included her throat and neck and lips and then back to her breasts for more.

She felt herself start to slip away, ceding her body to him, to the sensations he created. He nibbled the hardened tips of her breasts, watching her breath become deep and rhythmic, then fast and uncontrolled. When she lifted her head, he bit down, sending her into orgasm with a cry to the sky. Squeezing and rubbing her sex over the cotton, he found the nub he sought, tapping it while her paroxysms went on and on, her only sounds the moans of a woman released and floating free.

They both took a few breaths.

"Will you undress for me?"

"Yes!" He got to his knees to take down his pants and underwear as she watched him with sultry eyes. He sat down on his naked butt and drew them down to his ankles. Lisbon untied his shoes and removed them with his socks, her eyes either gazing at his or watching his hard flesh move with his hips when he shifted to pull the rest of the clothing off his lithe, muscular legs.

Leaning to him on her knees, she started kissing him again and he filled his hands with her breasts, now swaying within reach. She toyed with his cock, molding her hands and fingers delicately around it at first, sensing it from root to tip, then pressing and massaging as she worked her way up and down. So wonderful! How hard he was under his satiny skin! Giving the fat shaft a squeeze, she lifted a fingertip of his moisture, tasting him as he had her. He threw his head back and called out as if in pain and she gently let go. "Will you finish undressing me now?"

"Yes!" Shaking a little, face ruddy with urgency, he focused on her request. Lifting each of her small feet in turn, he removed the sandals, marveling as he held a whole foot in his wide palm, covering it completely with the other hand before he kissed the top and let it go. Then he tucked his fingers into the waistband of her panties and slipped them down when she raised her hips. Gasping when the triangle of her sex first came into view, he moaned when he saw the glistening pink of her open core as she moved her legs to let him pull the panties over her feet. Her chest heaved softly as she watched him stare hungrily at her, smiling when he stole quick glances into her eyes.

This time when she straddled him and leaned back, he set her rump nearly to his knees and supported her with one splayed hand on her back while he used the other tentatively to pet between her legs, brushing her skin and short silky hair. Her hips undulated to meet his hand, rubbing him as softly as a kitten. He slipped his fingers between her lips to pet her wet skin, thoroughly exploring the inside of her mouth there. For her, the rest of her body faded away. All that was left was a path of fire he kindled with his fingers and sent through the web of her nervous system like sparks. There was only her vulva and only his fingers in it, conjuring the traveling flame.

When she moaned, he would kiss her breasts for a while and kiss her lips, always kiss her. She lay completely open to him, her legs fully relaxed, wide. He touched her clitoris for the first time, sliding its short length with his fingertip. It was firm and he pushed the hood back to toy with the tip. Releasing a moaning cry as her hips bucked, her head lay tilted back limply from her arched neck, the flow of her dark hair a tickling stream against his shin.

She balanced a hand gracefully on his working arm with the other wedged under her body onto his knee, suspended gracefully like the fine sculpture of an angel cast from heaven. Gazing at her, feeling her warm flesh respond to his hand, he thought sculpture too imperfect, too inadequate to pick up the glow in her skin that seemed to come from inside and not from the warming sun. How could a sculpture capture the sprinkling of her freckles, cast over her entire milky white body like tiny shavings of chocolate on cream? The sexual flush on her neck and bosom?

Her posture was wanton and innocent at the same time, completely yielding. She had given herself to him and there was nothing more beautiful than this woman, Teresa.

She was so close to release. He longed to bury his fingers in her, learn where the most sensitive places were, watch her entire body in orgasm, but the need to join with her was too strong. It was why she yielded to him. Laying her carefully on the quilt, he prepared to enter her as their eyes met. Her hands on the back of his arms to pull him closer, she felt the head of his penis fill the opening to her body. It was hot, plump pressure, basting itself in her juices, teasing her. She eased her hips onto him and felt them begin to meld.

Jane gasped, the sensation of joining her body a sheer wall of heat traveling in transverse sections down the length of his cock. They were joined so perfectly that he had to concentrate to sense what was him and what was her, so he let it go as unimportant. It made him dizzy but he entered her like a snail, not to miss a nanosecond of this first penetration. She was a dense pillow inside, pressing every surface of him with insistent wet heat, melding him into a part of her.

Lisbon was panting, a soft huffing sound, her lips gently curled, her breath shallow, her body limp under him. He reached the bottom of her and she released a long soft breath and was still, lapsing into a slow breathing rhythm. He held there, enjoying the warm yellow sun on his back and bottom, the waving blue blur in his periphery and the pure bliss of being buried deep inside Teresa as she floated blissfully in sexual torpor. He waited until she resurfaced from to him, kissing her face and whispering her name.

Finally, her eyes opened. "Patrick." She had awoken from a very peaceful place, but she hadn't been asleep. "I don't know where I was. I wasn't thinking anything, or noticing anything."

He moved in her. "It must have been very relaxing."

He moved in her again. She arched and moaned.

Taking her hand, he brought it down to where they were joined and wet. "Do you remember this?"

"Yes. It's the last thing I remember. You were moving so slow. It was like a wall of electricity and when you got to the bottom, I went out." Her fingers gently roved the parts of him that were not inside her, brushing down his balls on one side. Drawing slowly out and then back in, he felt her fingertips tenderly ride his exposed length.

"Do you want me to keep moving slow?"

"No. I want to co—Aaaahhh!"

He started a rhythm with her, rolling in and out of the swollen wet as she positioned her body, raising her hips to receive him fully and then meet the roll of his thrusts. She cried out and pulled up her legs, holding her knees to spread herself more open to him and to brace for her own gliding thrusts against him. But they couldn't sustain the dance for long and their rhythm was lost in their need.

Slipping an arm around her waist, he pulled her tight, forcing her hips to a different angle that allowed him to ride her clitoris as he slipped his hips to delve even deeper into her.

Lisbon's breath was gasping but almost musical on the exhale. Jane felt her orgasm take control of them as she froze, back bowed, and then called his name. Helpless as she squeezed all around him, he shot into her, pressing his cheek against hers and saying her name as he shook, emptying into her, pulse after pulse. They lay joined, cooling, both nearly senseless but touching and whispering tenderness. Jane marveled at what little bird had given him. Life. She had simply given him life.

Then, not wanting to remain too long under the strong sun, they helped each other dress and walked back to the house with their picnic things.

The porch swing was a perfect resting place, Lisbon attempting to brush her unruly and tangled hair. She grunted and squeaked so much that Jane took the brush from her hands, turned her shoulders and patiently brushed it out, taking great care to be gentle with the knots.

"Wait here." He went into the house and returned quickly with rubber bands in his hands. "It will just keep getting knotted up out here. Let me fix it for you."

"You want to do my hair? Oh my god, Jane, we _are_ BFFs! What are you going to do?"

"Something very nice. And becoming, I think. And functional." He proceeded to plait her hair into two long very tidy, shiny braids. "There! That will protect it." He tugged on the curling ends. Her dark braids moved like lengths of silken rope and the yellow sundress set off her just-fucked coloring. Ripe and juicy! That's how Teresa looked to Patrick.

Lisbon took them in her hands and examined his work. "Very nice! Since when—Oh, Jane. Your little girl . . . "

Nodding, his smile was just a little tight and his eyes guarded. "Yes, I used to do them for Charlotte. Her mother taught me."

"Oh, thank you, Patrick." She set her hand on his, patted it lightly and squeezed his fingers. "It must have made for some nice moments between you and Charlotte."

"I loved it. She said I did them too tight." He smiled and winked at Lisbon. "But my pigtails always looked the tidiest at the end of the day."

With a graceful glide, Lisbon landed herself sideways on Jane's lap, pulled his arms around her and put her hands in his curls for a long kiss. Then she settled against his shoulder and let him swing them in the shade of the veranda, a sea of bluebonnets and a twinkling lake beyond them where The Mistletoe was tethered to float in the afternoon sun. Jimbo lay on the porch by the front door, and Muzzy was curled asleep in a chair on the other side. Some might say that lemonade and children were the only things missing, but neither Jane nor Lisbon felt any lack at all.

One hand toying with a braid, Jane set the other gently on her belly. "You know I'm going to want to make love to you all the time now."

She raised a hand and he lowered his cheek to it. "I'll like that." She thumbed his cheekbone.

"I mean, I'll be on your scent like a dog. I won't be able to help myself, but I'll try to be civilized."

"Maybe I don't want you to be civilized. Maybe I want a dog."

"Really?"

"Yes. Who wouldn't want a dog? They're loyal. And protective. And territorial. They scout danger and food and chances to mate - they put their whole heart into that - and keep the other dogs from coming too near. They go wherever you go and always want to be with you. Every woman needs the dog in her man. It's the perfect pairing."

"Maybe especially for a little bird?"

"I'll be right there on your shoulder, whispering in your ear."

"That's good. Because a dog desperately needs someone to love him back and help him learn to please the only one who matters to him."

"I love you, big dog."

"And I love you, little bird."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

For dinner, Lisbon fried the fish they'd caught, golden and crispy. Jane couldn't help giggling at her as he watched her chew it, although he also wished he'd done a more careful job of filleting the fish. With her lips closed, she made her mouth big inside so that she could use her tongue to feel for any rogue bones before she swallowed. When she'd find one, her eyes would go wide and she would freeze for just a second, then carefully maneuver a tiny bone to the front of her mouth, push it between her lips and daintily retrieve it between her thumb and index finger, then set it on the edge of her plate.

About the fifth time she did this, Jane had just taken a mouthful of iced tea and he tried to laugh, breathe and swallow at the same time. He choked out tea, dribbling helplessly from his lips as he tried to mop it up with his napkin, issuing a string of high-pitched giggles at the same time while his shoulders shook. In all the years she'd known him, Lisbon had never seen Jane laugh so helplessly and unguardedly. She couldn't help but laugh, too.

Later in the evening, they toured the small lake in The Mistletoe with Lisbon at the helm and Jane pointing out indications of shallow water to avoid. They watched the sun go down until it seemed the sea of bluebonnets had swallowed it. The boat's lights made a feeble stab in the abject darkness, the tiniest echo to the stars above. They made love in the passenger seat like randy teenagers, Jane with his pants at his knees and Lisbon with her panties hanging from one ankle and her yellow sundress pulled up.

She rode his lap excitedly, using her swollen core to caress Jane's length, her bare toes gripping the sides of the chair seat. His hands roved her breasts under the dress and he recalled the rosy hue of the nipples in the sun, while he slouched so that she could take him deep and he could watch her face dissolve in shadowed ecstasy. Her hot wet interior was a sticky fist, pulling and sliding until everything collapsed to where she was joined to him, moving the entirety of the universe along his quivering cock until it spewed oceans onto a planet somewhere inside her.

"The Mistletoe got a new christening tonight," she said as she lay on his chest, calming down. They nibbled each other as the boat rocked, Jane's hands cupping and skimming the skin of her bottom, warming it, her muscles tingling as she crouched against him.

When they returned to the house, Jane fed the animals and played a game of fetch the stick with Jimbo under the outside lights while Lisbon drew a bath in the giant upstairs tub. She made herself wet imagining scenarios for seducing Jane in the water, but couldn't decide which one she liked best. Undressed, she was just putting a toe in when he slipped behind her, immediately cupped her ass and started kneading, then smoothed his hands around her hips and down her belly, scratching her tuft of hair lightly with his fingernails.

"Mmmmm, you move fast," she purred as she leaned against his chest.

He let her go and slapped her fanny, then started to undress. Lisbon hurried into the tub and sat sideways to watch him take off the last. God! His male flesh was beautiful, as beautiful as the rest of him, even at rest.

Testing the water, Jane jerked his foot out. "Ow, Lisbon! Too hot! You want to scald your babies?" He held his balls.

She snickered. "As long as you're saving them for me . . . Go ahead. Put more cold in."

A little bored waiting for the water temperature to moderate, Jane absently handled his genitals, examining them as if he thought they might have changed since the last time he looked.

"Men and their favorite toy."

"Isn't it your favorite, too? I'm checking to see if you left me anything, or if you burned it all off with that sizzling little pussy of yours." Winking at her, he flicked the head of his penis with a long, graceful finger, making it bounce. "Yep. It's all still there. No mercy for you!" Smiling, he tested the water again and got in. He stretched the length of the tub, wiggling his toes where they peeked above the water.

Lisbon floated him to where she still stretched crosswise. Jane's male flesh felt especially wonderful under the water, its pressure pushing the contour of his firm, smooth testicles in a bas relief against the covering skin. Her fingertips explored there tenderly and thoroughly, as Jane sighed and let his legs drift open for her.

Before long she had made a hot tower of him as he steadied a hand on her shoulder and whimpered, "Finish me. Please." When she put her mouth on him, he called to Jesus and, succumbing to the sensations she created, came in the water as she finished him with her hand, doing things with it his brain wasn't equipped to analyze and experience at the same time while in extremis.

She loved his big, man's body, buoyed in the tub and curled to her with his head on one shoulder, his large hand gripping the other, moaning helplessly into her ear. She steadied him with a hand on his bottom while his climax rushed and overtook him.

"When you decide something, you're all in," he breathed, kissing her. "You've made me so happy, Teresa."

"I'm glad. I'm happy, too."

Enervated by their long, busy day, they turned to sleep early, spooning as they had the night before but naked this time, Jane's hand on her bare breast, squeezing it gently and feeling the nipple. It was a comforting gesture, devoid of any real sexual intent.

"Do you always keep a hand full of boobie when you sleep?"

"It's my security blanket. Is it too much?"

"Not a bit. I think your hand there could grow to be my security blanket, too."

Pulling her lightly to his chest for a hug, they said good night to each other, not realizing they had started their life-long bedtime ritual.

The sun woke them again. Jane got out of bed, bad boy greeting Lisbon naked that morning. "Early start for home, or late?"

"Early. Then we can lay around the shanty, have a relaxing Sunday afternoon."

"Your shanty or mine?"

"Well, we can't leave The Mistletoe in my parking lot, so I guess yours."

Lisbon rolled to her back and tossed the covers off. "I have time for that big bad boy, Patrick." They let the sun get above the horizon as they made slow and thorough love.

After a big breakfast, Lisbon brushed her hair and asked Jane to braid it for her again and they went to load The Mistletoe for the trip home. Although the morning was cool, the sun was out and they would be working, so Lisbon donned another sundress. Jane loved looking at her legs, running his hands on them at every opportunity, pulling it up to look at and fondle the lacy panties she had put on.

The trailer was in the water, waiting for the boat to be floated onto it. Jane was at the stern, securing the motor, when a large bass breached the water right next to him. "Whoa!" Startled, he lost his footing, hollered and fell into the lake.

"Oh my god! Jane! Are you all right?"

He sputtered and splashed. "Just give me a hand up so I don't have to swim and then walk out in the mud." He attempted to heave himself over the side, rocking the boat wildly until Lisbon almost lost her balance. She squatted and reached her hands under his armpits in the back. It was just enough for him to haul himself in.

High-stepping to a bench seat, he roared as water ran off him in rivers. "Jesus! That water is freezing." He started to shiver.

"Come on. We have to get you warm. Get in the truck and we'll blast the heat." She helped him onto the dock and ran to start the truck and heater. "Get out of your wet clothes," she called over her shoulder. "You'll warm faster without them sticking to you."

It was still early enough on an early April morning for the temperature to raise gooseflesh on a wet, naked man. Jane huddled his arms to his chest as he stood in his still soaking underwear. Lisbon threw his shirt and pants into the bed of the truck where they landed with a loud slap.

She sat him on the tailgate, shivering, and took off his shoes and socks so his feet could dry. "I noticed you're still wearing the socks I brought you from Cannon River. I would have thought they'd be worn out by now."

"Those are my socks!" he said defensively. "They're good socks."

"Okay, okay. I'm glad you have them. Take off your underwear and get in the truck. It should be warm now." She opened the driver's side.

Jane slapped his sopping briefs into the back of the truck. "No turtle jokes!"

"What?"

When he got in the truck, Lisbon saw what he meant. "Oh . . . "

"I'm cold!" He wasn't really indignant but his voice held a small warning of vulnerability.

"Scoot next to me. It's already warm in here. I'll warm bad boy for you. I bet that will get your heart pumping." Giving him a sly smile, she pressed her warm hand against him, then wet her fingers on her tongue and rubbed the sunken head of his cock like she would rub herself.

"You're giving me a spit bath!" Both of them had to snicker at that.

"Don't want to chafe your cold skin. Besides, I think bad boy likes it." Lisbon wet her fingers some more and soon had a fistful of Jane.

"Oh god, keep doing that!"

"Let's get back to the house."

"Can you drive one-handed?"

"I'd rather not."

"Then let's stay here."

Lisbon had a wild man in her hand. He pulled her away from the steering wheel for a frenzied kiss and slipped his hand under the crotch of her panties to find her wet. How she got out of them she wasn't sure, but in a moment she was over his lap and hands and knees on the seat with her dress pushed above her naked hips. Holding her thighs open, he slid into her and everything went grunting feral hot as she pounded against him as if trying to push his ass out the cab on the driver's side while he worked just as hard to send her nose first out the passenger side. The cab was completely fogged as it shook and creaked under the novel ride.

"Ow! Ow! The steering wheel! Open that window and hang out of it. I need more room!"

No way would she interrupt to play twenty questions! The window seemed to take an eternity, but leaning out to her shoulders created the room they needed. Jane kept repeating, "You feel so good. You feel so good," making it part of his groaning breath like the little engine that could. Her ass warmed from the relentless slamming. Lisbon gave up all goal-directed effort and simply positioned herself to receive the deep pounding he delivered until she came with a shout, each pulse bearing down until she drove him right after, almost squealing with pleasure.

Lisbon didn't know where her panties were just yet, but at least she had shoes and her sundress. Pulling off of Jane with a sticky pop that released a flood of juices, she gazed at him, still firm, red with friction heat and shining with their wet, the picture of the animalistic nature and purpose of sex. God, she wanted him all over again! But they couldn't stay in the truck cab fucking until dark.

"Woof!" she said to her big dog.

A wide grin nearly pushed his cheeks to his ears, spreading under dark eyes still unfocused by short circuits of pleasure.

"I'm going to load the boat."

"I'll help."

"Not like that, you're not. It's too chilly and you're overheated."

"Take me up to the house for some dry clothes."

Lisbon looked at the boat and trailer. No reason why she couldn't handle it herself. "No. I got it."

The defroster cleared the windows quickly and Lisbon backed the trailer into the water. Boarding The Mistletoe, she used the small trolling motor to pilot the boat into position and, giving it a slight boost, floated it onto the trailer and secured the winch to haul it into place. Then she drove the trailer out of the water and finished tying it down for the drive home.

She got back into the warm cab. "We can put the cover on the boat when we get to the house and you've got some dry clothes on."

He looked at her with admiring eyes. "You're a great skipper! And look at you, handling this truck and trailer like a pro. Although you really need a booster seat." He laughed at how she had to strain to see out the windshield.

"Hush! Or I'll put you out and you can walk to the house in your birthday suit." She took full advantage of the view as he sauntered naked up the steps and into the house.

Lisbon made sure Jimbo had food and water before she patted him goodbye and put him in his pen. Checking the cat food dispenser, she did the same for Muzzy, who could go in and out the pet door. Jane came downstairs in dry clothes, their bags in hand and they put the cover on The Mistletoe. Time to go.

While she waited for Jane to finish loading the truck, Lisbon looked at the beautiful blue house, towering over its great ocean of bluebonnets. She looked at the lake where the sun came up and thought of Jimbo and Muzzy. When she got in the truck and turned to Jane, her cheeks had tear tracks.

"Lisbon! What's the matter?"

"I want a home, Jane. With a yard and pets and chores to do. And a big tub. And a porch swing. And a lake. And an ocean of bluebonnets." She sniffed loudly.

He opened his arm and drew her close. "We can do that. We can do that, little bird. We'll make a wonderful life, and you can have everything you dream of."

"When?"

"As soon as you want." He loosened his hold to make her look in his eyes. "But you have to marry me, first."

"That's a strange kind of blackmail, Jane."

"Lisbon. That's a proposal."

"I know."

"Well? Will you marry me?"

"Yes. I won't make you wait like you waited for my body."

He drew her up again and kissed the side of her head. "When?"

She buckled the middle seat belt onto her lap. "Soon."

Jane's head snapped to look at her, mouth open, and he shook a finger at her as she smiled shyly. "Uh-uh-uh," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Okay." She beamed at him, her eyes alight. "Whenever you want." She reached between his legs and scratched at the crotch of his jeans. 'Maybe we can let some of my babies out."

"As many as you want. We'll fill you up with them."

Later that afternoon in Jane's Airstream, Lisbon dug through her bag and found a small box. Inside were a cunning little felt Christmas stocking and several ribbons in Christmas colors that she had tucked into the box a few months ago. She drew out a long green one, cut it in half and tied each half into a bow around a braid. She walked over to Jane on the couch, the box in one hand and the little stocking in the other.

"You, you put ribbons in your hair! They look so pretty, Lisbon."

"They're from Christmas." She handed him the stocking so that he could remember, too.

Sticking a finger in it, he tugged out a droopy, leathery piece of graying foliage. "Our mistletoe," he said softly.

She nodded as he held the mistletoe over his head and then she leaned in to kiss him.

"Look at that! It still works." He gave it back to her.

Tucking the mistletoe back into the stocking, Lisbon hid it away again in the box and set it aside. When she fell into his arms, they started a night of love, right there on his couch.


End file.
